Some Like it Hawk by Donna Andrews is the 14th book in the “Meg Langslow” mystery series. Publisher: Minotaur Books, July 2012
Meg helps run Caerphilly’s summer arts and crafts festival while trying to smoke out a murderer. Turn up the heat, because Some Like it Hawk!
The hilariously funny Donna Andrews delivers another winner in the award-winning New York Times bestselling series that has captured human and avian hearts alike. Meg Langslow is plying her blacksmith’s trade at Caerphilly Days, a festival inspired by her town’s sudden notoriety as “The Town That Mortgaged Its Jail.” The lender has foreclosed on all Caerphilly’s public buildings, and all employees have evacuated—except one. Phineas Throckmorton, the town clerk, has been barricaded in the courthouse basement for over a year.
Mr. Throckmorton’s long siege has only been possible because of a pre-Civil War tunnel leading from the courthouse basement to a crawl space beneath the bandstand. The real reason for Caerphilly Days is to conceal the existence of the tunnel: the tourist crowds camouflage supply deliveries, and the ghastly screeching of the tunnel’s rusty trap door is drowned out by as many noisy activities as the locals can arrange. But the lender seems increasingly determined to evict Mr. Throckmorton—and may succeed after one of its executives is found shot, apparently from inside the basement. Meg and her fellow townspeople suspect that someone hopes to end the siege by framing Mr. Throckmorton. Unless the real killer can be found quickly, the town will have to reveal the secret of the tunnel—and the fact that they’ve been aiding and abetting the basement’s inhabitant. Meg soon deduces that the killer isn’t just trying to end the siege but to conceal information that would help the town reclaim its buildings–if the townspeople can find it before the lender destroys it in a gut-busting caper that will have giggles and guffaws coming as fast as a four-alarm fire.
Donna has done it again; she’s written a terrific mystery that is delightfully entertaining and boasts a wonderful place where eccentrically charming citizens band together to save their small town. And what a ride it was as the action never stopped in this lighthearted and humorous whodunit that kept me turning the pages. An enjoyable read and I look forward to more exciting times with Meg and the people of Caerphilly.
Dru,
Your reviews are always spoon and I trust your judgement when you recommend a book or an author. I am glad this is a series because it will give me reading material to catch up on as well. Thanks for bringing Donna and her Meg Langslow series to my attention.
Have a wonderful night,
Maureen
I miss these characters and am dreadfully behind in the series. I’m off to sort out how many books I need to catch up on before this one. Thanks, Dru Ann.
I like this series and discovered it early on. The titles are great and so are the covers. Haven’t read any lately; the last one I read was Swan for the Money.
I’m in the same category as several other readers. I’ve read the first couple of books in this series, but for some reason it sort of fell off my radar. Not sure why, since I really enjoyed the mysteries as well as the characters. Now I need to get it back on my book list and catch up.